


Christmas on Griffon Rock

by Exdraghunt



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Family Feels, M/M, Mechpreg, Mentions of past mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28037874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exdraghunt/pseuds/Exdraghunt
Summary: Two new bots land on Griffon Rock, just a few weeks before Christmas, and bring a few surprises with them."Chase’s engine stuttered as he took in the mech standing before them, strobe lights flickering off to leave only his headlights brightening up the dark forest. When he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically quiet and uncertain. “Sire?”"
Relationships: Jazz/Prowl
Comments: 61
Kudos: 206





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dropping some Rescue Bots fluff for my annual Christmas Fic!
> 
> This is a sequel to Keeping Secrets, though reading that fic is not necessary to understand this one.

December had come to Griffon Rock, and with it, the usual array of winter-related emergencies. Fortunately, there hadn’t been anything the Burns family and the Rescue Bots couldn’t handle. A blizzard (fully natural, no malfunctioning weather machines this time), a herd of rampaging robot reindeer, and a tiny army of toy elves that a certain pair of brothers had reprogrammed for crime were just part of a normal holiday season for the team. And December had barely started.

Fortunately, things had been rather slow for the day. A speeding ticket here, a gentle reminder to a citizen about blocking crosswalks there, the sort of routine day that Chief Burns rather enjoyed. Engaging directly with the citizens he served and protected was always preferrable to trying to defeat whatever technology had run amok that week.

“Welp, what d’ya say we head back to the Firehouse, huh, partner?” Chief Burns inquired as he watched the sun disappear over the horizon. The streets of Griffon Rock were already empty, the early sunsets and cold temperatures encouraging most citizens to return to their warm homes.

“Sounds logical, sir.” Chase agreed, flicking on his headlights to illuminate the road as the natural daylight vanished. “The weather service reports that a meteorological phenomenon known as a ‘Nor’easter’ is expected later this evening, it is best for everyone to be at their domiciles. Including us.”

The pair turned back toward home as the first few snowflakes of the coming storm began to fall, but they hadn’t gotten further than a block when a white sports car whipped past them doing twice the speed limit with all lights dark.

“What kind of fool would drive like that in this weather? Chase?” Chief Burns barely got the words out before his partner leapt into pursuit, lights and sirens blaring online.

Most citizens of Griffon Rock knew that it was in their best interest to simply pull over when they noticed the island’s only cop car behind them, and Chief Burns did his best to treat everyone kindly (but firmly) so that they never felt the need to flee from him. Apparently, whoever was driving this car wasn’t familiar with that tradition, because the lights and sirens only spurred the sports car on faster.

“Sir, that vehicle does not appear to have a license plate.” Chase observed, picking up speed as the pursuit left the more populated sector of Griffon Rock for the uninhabited forested roads. “In addition, I am picking up an unusual energy signature.”

“Unusual how?”

“I am. Unsure.” Chase admitted. “There is something interfering with my scanners.”

Chief Burns frowned, not liking the sound of that. The seatbelt around him tightened as Chase threw himself into a squealing hand-brake turn after their quarry, taking them off the main paved road and onto a gravel side road. “Why would this guy come out here, this road doesn’t go anywhere. Unless . . . Chase, we’re being led! This is a trap!”

Just as he realized this, the sports car whipped around to face them with a turn tighter than any car should be capable of and came to a halt. Chase threw on his brakes as well, red and blue lights flashing off the snow-laden trees around them as his headlights illuminated the strange vehicle.

“STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR.” Chase instructed, silencing his siren so that he could project his voice outwards.

All was silent for a moment, with no movement visible inside the darkened interior of the strange car. In fact, there didn’t seem to be anyone inside of it at all.

Then, with a familiar mechanical noise, the sports car unfolded and expanded outwards until it was no longer a vehicle but a bipedal robot of similar dimensions to the Rescue Bots standing before them. The unfamiliar ‘bot stared down at them through some kind of band or visor that glowed a uniform bright blue, and Chief Burns hoped to God this stranger was friendly.

Chase’s engine stuttered as he took in the mech standing before them, strobe lights flickering off to leave only his headlights brightening up the dark forest. When he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically quiet and uncertain. “Sire?”

“You know this ‘bot, Chase?”

“I- yes, sir. I do.” The seatbelt holding Charlie in place released and Chase’s drivers door opened in silent request. Chief Burns agreeably got out and took several steps back to give his partner space to transform.

As soon as his human partner was clear, Chase reverted to root mode and took a slow step towards the other mech. It meant that his headlights no longer provided illumination, but even with only the dim light of a half moon, there was no mistaking the loving hug Chase was suddenly swept up in.

Charlie stared in surprise as the two mechs embraced like long-lost friends or lovers, not having expected to see such physical affection out of the normally very reserved Chase. There was a burst of noise between the two, the sound of their native Cybertronian language sounding harsh and mechanical to the human’s ears, before Chase stepped back from his companion to look down at his partner.

“Sire, this is Chief Burns. He is my assigned partner, and is the head of the rescue services here on the island.” There was no mistaking the pride in his voice as he said those words. “Chief Burns, this is Commander Jazz, Third in Command of the Autobot Forces under Optimus Prime.”

“Pleasure to meet ya, my man.” The new ‘bot knelt down to be closer to Charlie’s level and held out an enormous hand. “Y’ can just call me Jazz.”

“Charlie.” The human returned, grasping one of the mech’s digits firmly and giving a quick shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet another Autobot. Though, if I might say, next time I’d prefer a phone call instead of a high-speed police pursuit across the island.”

That drew a loud, honest laugh from Jazz, blue visor brightening in amusement. “Sorry abou’ that. I wasn’t sure what kinda surveillance you folks had on this island. Figured it’d be best ta get you two to a private locale before I revealed myself.”

“You could have simply sent me a comm message.” Chase pointed out.

“Well, where’s the fun in that?” Jazz grinned unrepentantly as he straightened back up. “You know I always like ta test the security any new place I go.”

“Rest assured, I will be informing your Conjunx of your flagrant flouting of the law tonight. I am assuming he is with you?”

“Yeah, Prowl is wit’ me. He’s at our shuttle, hidden an’ cloaked nearby.” Jazz didn’t seem intimidated at all by Chase’s threat, the broad grin never leaving his face. “Left him ta stand guard while I checked out the island an’ made contact wit’ ya.”

“Would you two like to come back to our base?” Chase offered, glancing down at Chief Burns, “If that is okay with you, sir?”

“Of course it is, Chase. Plenty of room in the bunker for two more.” Charlie shivered a little as the snow began to pick up. “In fact, maybe we should save any further conversation for there? That storm is still rolling in tonight.”

“My apologies, sir. I forgot how sensitive to cold humans are.” Chase folded back down into his alt mode and opened his door so that his partner could climb back into his heated cab.

“I’ll lead ya to th’ shuttle to pick up Prowl, then we can head back to yer base. An’ this time, I promise ta obey th’ speed limit.” Jazz’s visor flickered in something like a wink, before he transformed as well and led the way back towards the road.

“So, you two seem close.” Chief Burns commented as they returned to the paved road.

“Of course.” Chase seemed surprised by the suggestion. “He is my sire. We have not seen each other since the Exodus.”

“Your sire.” The word had certain connotations in English, but Charlie wasn’t sure if Cybertronians used it the same way. “You might need to elaborate on that one, partner.”

“Jazz did not contribute to my spark coding, but he was an important part of caring for and raising me.” Chase’s normally monotone voice grew almost wistful. “I believe it is similar to the relationship you have with your offspring.”

“You mean, he’s like your father.” Charlie translated, a little surprised at the explanation. “And the other ‘bot we’re going to meet?”

“Prowl, my carrier.” Chase supplied. “His spark kindled mine, and my frame was grown from his. I suppose a suitable word equivalent would be ‘mother.’”

“You never mentioned that you had parents, Chase.” Charlie had never given much thought to whether the bots had families, they had always seemed so surprised and confused when it came to relationships between humans.

“You have never asked about my creators, sir.” Chase pointed out.

“Well, to humans, at least, parents are an important enough part of people’s lives that they tend to get brought up in conversation.”

“Ah, I see. It is different for us. On Cybertron, how one was created is considered extremely personal. To bring up my creators would inevitably reveal that I was kindled.”

“Interesting.” Though Charlie knew that the Rescue Bots were aliens, it was sometimes so easy to forget that they had entire lives from before they met the Burns family and came from an entirely separate culture. Not that they ever spoke much about the culture of their home planet. “So, there are different ways for Cybertronians to be created?” He prodded gently, wondering if he might get a little more insight into the processors of his extraterrestrial adopted family.

“Indeed, there are three different ways new Cybertronians can be created.” Fortunately, Chase appeared to be in a sharing mood. “I will list them in order of commonality.

“The majority of mecha are Forged. This is when a pulse of energy leaves the great computer Vector Sigma in Cybertron’s core, igniting one or more Hot Spots on the planet’s surface. The new sparks were then collected, along with the living metal Sentio Metallico, which become protoform as indicated by the coding in the spark.”

Charlie nodded along, even though he only understood about every other word.

“Then, Cold Construction was invented. Energy was drawn from the Matrix and implanted into photonic crystals to create sparks, before being installed into pre-fabricated bodies. The final method is how I was created, by Kindling. When two mecha merge sparks, sometimes they will burn hot enough for one to bud off a new spark. The spark and frame develop inside the carrier until mature enough to separate.”

“So, why is this considered so sensitive to discuss?” So far, Charlie hadn’t heard anything that sounded particularly intimate. Well, as far as he understood things, anyway.

“Because the method of construction was an important factor in your place in the Cybertronian caste system.” Chase explained softly. “Cold Constructs, in particular, were seen as being nothing more than ‘knock offs.’ Artificial, barely sentient machines. It is why Heatwave is so . . . irritated at being forced to pretend to be non-sentient Earth robots.”

“I see.” It was hard for Charlie to understand how a race of machines could consider some as less than others. Then again, humans were all built the same way and still managed to come up with a variety of reasons to subjugate each other throughout history. “I’m sorry you all have to pretend like that, I know it’s not easy.”

“We understand why it is necessary.” Chase reassured. “Although you are correct, it is not easy. I believe Heatwave takes it more personally than the rest of us, though.”

Perhaps fortunately, there wasn’t time for any further discussion. In front of them, Jazz had come to a stop and returned to root mode. They were on what looked like an ordinary abandoned logging road on the backside of Mt. Griffon, no sign of any alien spacecraft. Until Jazz knocked on what looked like empty space and a door appeared. Silhouetted in the rectangle of light was another mech, this one slim with smooth, rounded edges and a pair of what looked like small wings raised high. Gripped in one hand with an ease that told of long experience was unmistakably some type of long-barreled rifle. Despite knowing that this ‘bot was a friendly, Charlie couldn’t help but tense a little at the sight of the weapon. The police chief knew his way around firearms, had scored well with a variety of guns at police academy, but he did his best to never need to pull one in the line of active duty.

The rifle remained raised and ready to use as the mech stepped down out of the ship and the door became invisible once more. No longer backlit, Charlie could now make out the sharp, polished black and white paint and the hard, ice blue optics that swept over them. There were no doubts that this mech was very dangerous.

Fortunately, the intense scrutiny only latest a moment before the mech relaxed slightly and the rifle vanished from his hands. With the weapon no longer in play, Charlie felt a little more comfortable stepping out of Chase so that his partner could transform and more properly great his parents.

Chase stepped up to his other creator, who didn’t greet him with an enthusiastic embrace the way Jazz had. Instead, the winged mech reached up to clasp Chase’s shoulders and leaned forward to press their foreheads together.

“It is good to see you, Chase.” The taller mech intoned softly as he stepped back and let his hands fall back to his side.

“And you as well.” Chase returned. “Although, perhaps you should have been the one to initiate contact. Sire is not very good at obeying the local traffic ordinances.”

“No, he is not.” A suspicious glance at Jazz, who just shrugged and laughed. “I will speak with him later. First, I believe you have an operational base for us to move to?”

“Yes, my Rescue Team is working with human rescuers here on the island,” Chase stepped aside and gestured towards the human who had come with him.

With the smooth hiss of pneumatics and soft whirring of gears, the black and white mech knelt to regard Charlie thoughtfully. “Ah, yes. You must be the Native liaison that Optimus Prime spoke of. I am Commander Prowl, Chief Tactical Officer and Second in Command of the Autobot forces.”

“Chief Charlie Burns, Griffon Rock PD.” Charlie couldn’t quite keep in a smile at the overly formal monotone of the mech before him. It reminded him so strongly of Chase. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“To you as well.” Prowl returned before slowly straightening back up. He hadn’t managed to get all the way to his feet, though, when he suddenly wobbled and had to be caught by Jazz and Chase.

“Carrier! Are you all right?” Chase couldn’t keep concern out of his voice as Prowl shook his helm and steadied himself on his pedes.

“I am uninjured, Chase.” Prowl reassured. “Simply tired.”

“If you are sure.” Chase didn’t seem entirely convinced, but didn’t argue the point. “Then if you will follow me, I will lead you to our base.”

The three mechs all folded down into their altmodes, with Prowl turning into the sleek form of a mainland Highway Patrol Vehicle with “POLICE” emblazoned on the doors. Charlie frowned a little at the sight, but at least, with the streets empty, there wouldn’t be anyone around to see a strange cop car driving through Griffon Rock.

“So, those are your parents, huh?” Charlie commented as he returned to Chase’s cab. “You and Prowl seem a lot alike.”

“Do you really think so?” Chase seemed flattered by the comparison. “My carrier was an Enforcer before the war, he achieved the highest case closure rating in Cybertronian history. I was greatly inspired by him to become a Law Enforcement Officer myself.”

“A real family business, huh? Well, I’m sure he’s proud of you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Chase said softly.

“Well, we should probably give the firehouse a call and warn them we have guests coming.” Charlie activated his commlink. “Kids? Anyone there?”

_“Dad? Are you on your way back home?”_

“Hey, Cody. Yeah, Chase and I are headed back. Listen, can you tell your siblings and the other bots that we’re going to have guests?”

_“Guests? Wait, like more bots? Noble! Anybody we know?”_

“We’ve got two new arrivals to Earth that will be staying with us. So, tell everybody to be on their best behavior, alright?”

_“Can do! See you in a bit!”_

“Do you really believe everyone will be able to sustain better-than-usual behavior?” Chase questioned as Cody got off the comm line.

“Well, I can hope, right?” Charlie commented with a chuckle. The team usually managed to hold themselves together well enough when Optimus Prime visited, hopefully they’d be able to do the same for two of the Prime’s top officers.

The group pulled up to the firehouse just as the earlier light snow started to turn into flurries, a biting northeastern wind sweeping across the island. They quickly hustled into the warm garage and let the doors close behind, blocking out the coming winter storm. Apparently, the warning about having guests had gotten everyone away from their usual evening activities, because the rest of the Burns family and the other Rescue Bots were gathered in the garage to greet the new arrivals.

As the trio transformed, the reaction from the Rescue Bots was almost immediate. Heatwave gasped and snapped into a sharp salute, with a shocked Blades and Boulder not too far behind him. Even Chase stepped alongside his team to present a proper display to the two Commanding Officers.

“Commander Prowl, Commander Jazz.” Heatwave spoke for the group. “Welcome to Earth.”

“Dad? What’s going on?” Dani whispered to her father, watching the uncharacteristically formal behavior from the bots.

“Prowl and Jazz are Optimus Prime’s Second and Third in Command.” Charlie murmured back. “Clearly, they’re a pretty big deal.”

“At ease, Sigma-17.” Prowl held up a hand, “We are not here on official business. Optimus Prime sent us here not to inspect you, but instead recommended this location as a place that I could rest and recuperate.”

“Rest? Are you sick?” Blades wrung his hands together nervously. “Or injured? Oh, do you want me to get my med-kit?”

“No, I am neither sick, nor injured. In fact, I am in perfect health.” Prowl glanced at Jazz, who was grinning from audial to audial.

“No time like th’ present ta reveal the surprise, I guess.” Jazz walked up to Chase and threw an arm over his shoulders. “Congrats, kiddo! Yer gonna be a big brother!”


	2. Chapter 2

There was a moment of absolute silence in the firehouse as everyone present processed what Jazz had just said before the garage erupted into noise and chaos. Everyone was asking questions at once, though no one could be heard over Blades’ excited squealing and the shocked exclamation of “WHAT?!” out of Kade.

Nothing would get done if everyone kept talking over each other. Charlie held up both hands and pulled out his best Dad voice. “Quiet! Everybody, QUIET!”

His kids shut up almost immediately, with Blades getting himself under control a second later. Now everybody was staring at Charlie, waiting to see what he had to say.

“Sorry about that.” Chief Burns looked up at Prowl apologetically. “But I think a little more explanation is in order. Chase is getting a younger sibling?”

“Indeed. I am carrying.” Prowl rested a hand gently on his chest. “I expect to enter emergence any time in the next two earth weeks.”

“And then there’ll be a sparkling!” Blades could barely hold in his excitement. “Oooh, I haven’t seen one in ages!”

“Is a sparkling like a baby?” Graham questioned.

“Similar enough.” Boulder answered his partner. “Sparkling is the term for a newly formed Cybertronian.”

“Wait, so he’s pregnant?” Kade stared up at Prowl with a disturbed expression on his face. “But, you’re a robot! And a dude! That’s just. . .weird!”

“You didn’t think it was ‘weird’ when I was pregnant with Cody.” Chief Burns pointed out with some amusement.

“I was 12!” Kade frowned and folded his arms. “And besides. That’s different.”

“Because I’m human, or because I’m your dad?” Charlie chuckled and shook his head, well used to his eldest’s posturing. He turned his attention back to Prowl and Jazz, “Is it appropriate to give congratulations?”

“Very!” Jazz said cheerfully. “Ain’t been a sparkling born in millennia. Me n’ Prowler are real excited. Especially now that we get ta spend time wit’ our first sparklin’ too.”

“I am hardly a sparkling anymore,” Chase pointed out, ducking his head as his sire gave his helm an affectionate rub.

“Aww, but y’ll always be _our_ sparklin’.” Jazz nuzzled one of Chase’s audial fins fondly. The police car gave an embarrassed murmur and ducked his head, though made no move to try and escape the affection.

“I can’t believe you never told us your creators are _the_ Prowl and Jazz.” Blades complained, hands on his hips as he gave Chase a betrayed look.

Heatwave chuckled. “I guess now we know why he’s such a hardaft about regulations.”

Prowl gave the fire truck a sharp look, “Rules and regulations are very important to properly functioning as an efficient rescue team.”

“The resemblance is uncanny,” Dani muttered to her older brother with a quiet laugh.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Kade was still having trouble wrapping his brain around recent events. “So you’re saying that him, and him, are Chase’s parents?” He pointed at Jazz and Prowl in turn. “I thought you guys were all built in factories or something.”

The mechs in the room all stiffened, and a deep growl rumbled from Heatwave as he glared down at his human partner.

“Heatwave-“ Boulder reached out a hand towards the fire truck, but was rebuffed as Heatwave spun away and stomped off towards the elevator.

“Whatever, I’m going down to the bunker.” Heatwave stabbed roughly at the controls that controlled the hydraulic floor. A few moments later, the sound of him whaling away at his sparring dummy reverberated back up to the garage until the elevator returned back to ground level.

“What?” Kade shrugged as everyone turned to look at him. “What’d I say?”

Chief Burns sighed. “I’ll explain later, son. For now, I’m sure our guests would like to sit down and rest. You lot can finish playing 20 questions with them tomorrow.” He hadn’t forgotten how unsteady and tired Prowl had been back at their ship earlier. Even now, the mech’s wings were drooping and he was no longer standing as straight as he had been a few minutes ago.

The Burns children dispersed upstairs to the human living quarters, while the bots went below to the bunker. Trusting Chase to make sure his parents got settled, Charlie headed up to the house as well. Someone needed to start dinner, after all. And then, hopefully, there would be time for at least a few hours of sleep before an emergency call came in. Because there would inevitably be some as the storm barreled over the island.

Charlie also needed to sit Kade down for a little chat about what he’d said to set Heatwave off so much and convince his son to at least attempt an apology before they went out on a rescue again. The work of a father was never done.

Meanwhile, in the bunker, Chase decided to dispense with a full tour in favor of leading his creators to one of the small siderooms that had been set up with a recharge slab and a door that closed. It shut out the sound of Heatwave pounding on his sparring dummy (and Blades turning up the sound on an episode of Cupcake Hoarders to try and drown out the firetruck), which allowed both Chase and Prowl to relax a little without the extra noise. Jazz, always attentive to the more sensitive systems of his Conjunx and his adopted Creation, tugged them both down to lay on the berth, frames nestling together and fields overlapping.

Chase tucked his head up against his carrier’s chestplate, letting the familiar pulse of Prowl’s spark and the comfort of Jazz pressed up against his back lull him towards recharge. And, as Prowl’s own systems cycled down, Chase could just sense the flutter of a second, smaller sparkbeat inside his chest. He could be excited in the morning, for now, all he wanted was to rest in his creator’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /Casually dumps some Chief Burns headcanons on ya'll
> 
> Also: chaps will be pretty short, since this is meant to be just a sweet, fluffy minific.


	3. Chapter 3

As Chief Burns had predicted, a few rescue calls had come in during the night because of the storm. A few trees fallen across roads, some powerlines down, one old warehouse with a collapsed roof due to the weight of the snow, the usual spate of calls when a Nor’easter rolled over the island. Chief felt a little bad about pulling Chase away from his parent, but his partner reassured him that duty always came first and that it was something both Prowl and Jazz understood. Being pulled away at inconvenient times was simply a fact of life for someone who devoted their time to ensuring the safety of others. It was something that the Burns family, too, knew very well.

Fortunately, Kade and Heatwave had, at least, made up. Kade had felt a little guilty over his thoughtless statement when Charlie explained that some Cybertronians had, in fact, been built in factories, and had been discriminated against due to this fact. There was no way Kade could have known this, of course, since Charlie himself had only found out that evening, but the fireman had still managed an apology. Heatwave had accepted it with a shrug and a grunt of ‘whatever,’ but returned to his more typical levels of grump afterwards. It was amazing how similar the two could be, sometimes. Both brave with hard, tough exteriors hiding feelings buried deep down. No wonder they occasionally clashed so spectacularly.

Dawn came to reveal that a layer of snow two feet deep now blanketed the island, making the landscape a true Winter Wonderland. Citizens would be pretty well snowed in until the island’s fleet of automated snowplows had finished clearing the roads, which meant that it was time for a real Snow Day.

Bots and Burnses alike piled outside to enjoy the fresh powder while it was still soft and wonderful for playing in. Charlie took the time after breakfast had been cleaned up to prepare a batch of his special Hot Chocolate recipe, pouring it into a big thermos to keep warm for later when fun in the snow inevitably turned into shivering and cold, red fingers.

Heading down to the garage, Charlie noticed that not everyone was out enjoying the sun and snow. Prowl was sitting on a large crate just inside the open garage doors, wings twitching as he watched the others frolic. Chief Burns walked up beside him and silently observed everyone outside for a few minutes before speaking.

“Not going to go out with the others?”

Prowl turned to look down at the shorter human standing next to him. “No. A rust infection would be quite dangerous to myself or the sparkling right now, so it is probably for the best I avoid excess contact with dihydrogen monoxide.”

Chief Burns couldn’t keep in a chuckle, earning him a raised eyebrow from the mech. “Sorry, it’s just that you remind me a lot of Chase.”

“Ah, yes. My creation does seem to have taken rather closely after me.” Prowl looked like he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“It’s a compliment, I promise.” Charlie reassured him. “But that does remind me, do you need anything? Is there anything we should be aware of or ready for? My family all has training in assisting in human childbirth, and I’ve been through it a few times myself, but I don’t know how applicable any of that is to alien robot biology.”

“I should not need any medical intervention. From what little I know of the process in humans, it is much less arduous and . . .messy with Cybertronians.” Prowl’s face pulled into a slight grimace, having obviously stumbled across some Human childbirth content on the internet he’d rather not have seen. “We will be prepared to comm Prime’s medic should something go wrong, but I rather doubt we shall need him. Chase came when I was in the middle of directing a battle, in a high stress situation, with no medical assistance. After that, anything else will be easy.”

Charlie could barely imagine anything more stressful. “And I thought it was bad having my water break while giving a statement in court.”

“I was unaware that males of your species could carry.” Prowl noted curiously. “Has my research been incorrect?”

“Not quite. You can search the internet, right? Look up the word ‘transgender’.”

Prowl’s optics dimmed and seemed to flicker as he apparently did just that. “Ah, yes. I believe I understand. So then, this means that your mate is-?”

“Oh, I don’t have one.” Charlie answered easily, having been asked this many times before. “I guess I’ve just never really felt the need to date or marry. I’ve always wanted children, though. Science and some anonymous genetic material donors let that happen for me.”

“To have raised four creations all on your own. You must be a remarkable creator.” Prowl commented softly.

“Thank you.” Charlie looked out to where his kids were all laughing and playing in the fresh snowfall, pride washing through him as he thought of all they had accomplished. “And you’ve done pretty good, too. I’ve worked with Chase for almost a year now, he’s an amazing ‘bot.”

Prowl lifted his gaze back to the others, watching as Chase and Jazz hefted an enormous snowball atop another, apparently being directed by the youngest of the Burns children. Slowly, a soft smile tugged on his lips. “Yes, he is. And I am proud.”

“Hey, dad!” Cody broke away from his project to run into the garage, cheeks flushed red and joy in his eyes. “Come see what Me and Chase and Jazz are working on! They’re helping me build the biggest snowman I ever saw.”

“Don’t worry, son, I’ve been watching.” Charlie promised with an indulgent smile. “I’ll come give you a hand in a minute, I just wanted to check in on Prowl first.”

“Oh, right. Hi, Prowl!” Cody gave the police car a cheery wave. “Don’t you want to come outside and play?”

“No, thank you. I don’t think the snow would be good for my systems.” Prowl rubbed a hand over his chestplates with a slight wince, “Although, I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to sit here.”

“Are you alright?” Cody asked in concern, stepping closer.

“I am fine. Simply being kicked rather vigorously.”

Cody’s eyes went wide. “The baby is kicking? Can I feel?”

Prowl froze, obviously surprised by the request. He thought about it seriously for a long moment, before finally nodding. “Yes, of course.”

The mech leaned down and carefully scooped up Cody in one large, white hand before bringing the boy up level with his chest. “You will feel them just to the left of my Autobot emblem.”

Cody laid his hands in the indicated place, and was almost immediately rewarded with movement that was easily felt through the smooth metal of the police car’s hood. “Wow! That’s amazing!”

That got a full smile out of Prowl as he set the boy back down. “Yes, they are very strong. Even if their timing can be inconvenient.”

“Kids are good at that.” Charlie commented with a grin. “But we still love them.” He pulled his youngest son close to him, “Come on, Cody. How about you show me that snowman.”

The two humans headed outside into the snow, though Charlie didn’t manage to make it very far before his other children let loose with their supply of snowballs. Laughing, the Chief and Cody took cover so they could return fire, sparking an all-out war when the bots joined in.

Prowl stood so he could pace slowly by the garage doors, watching as Chase and Jazz teamed up to pelt the other Rescue Bots with a fond expression. He wasn’t up to joining them just then, but it was just as satisfying to see his Conjunx and his Creation being so carefree and having such fun.


	4. Chapter 4

Eventually, everyone got cold and returned indoors, where the Burns children were delighted to discover their father had Hot Chocolate already prepared for them. Once everyone was warm and dry once more, the humans and mechs alike found themselves all in the bunker in front of the television screen. Blades had discovered Christmas Movies, with the result that nightly viewings were now Mandatory lest the helicopter pout incessantly.

Blades lounged on the floor in front of the human-sized couch, carefully leaning back against it as he excitedly chattered about the movie playing on the screen. The Burns family were all crammed onto the couch as well, trying to explain classic Christmas traditions to an alien robot with varying levels of amusement.

The mech-sized couch had been claimed by Chase and his creators, with the police car sandwiched between Prowl and Jazz quite comfortably. It was clear the trio wasn’t paying much attention to the movie, but nobody could quite blame them. Prowl barely looked to be awake, his head nodding every so often as his optics drifted shut, while Chase seemed happy to lean against Jazz’s shoulder and get his lightbar pet.

Everyone else was happy to politely ignore them except, apparently, Kade. The firemen kept glancing over at the other couch, a frown on his face. Finally, Charlie had to know, “Something wrong, son?”

“It’s just. Weird.” Kade commented with a shrug. “Grown adult, cuddling with his parents.”

“Aww, is somebody jealous?” Dani teased, giving her brother a poke.

“What? No!”

“Don’t worry, son. No matter how old you get, you’ll always be my kiddo.” Before Kade could react or attempt to escape, Charlie reached out with one muscular arm and pulled his eldest son into his embrace.

“Oh, is it ‘hug Kade’ time?” Cody cheerfully clambered over his siblings to wrap his arms around his oldest brother, with Dani and Graham not too far behind. Kade gave a few fitful struggles, but could not escape from his family’s love.

Standing behind the couch, Heatwave let out a chuckle at the whine Kade emitted from beneath the pile of his siblings. Unfortunately for the fire truck, he laughed a little too loud, because Blades heard him.

“Aww, Heatwave? Do you want some hugs too?”

“Don’t you dare-!” Heatwave made to escape the room, but wasn’t fast enough. Blades was on his pedes with both arms around his waist before the fire truck made it two steps.

As Heatwave and Kade gave their token struggles, Chase elected to simply nuzzle a little further into his sire’s arms and enjoy the closeness of his creators.

The sound of Kade and Heatwave arguing filled the garage, a common enough occurrence. In fact, Chief Burns was pretty sure that was just how the two communicated.

Today, it was a usual case of the two being obstinate just for the sake of it. The rescue team were all getting ready for the annual Griffin Rock Christmas Parade, and Heatwave didn’t want to get festooned in lights and garland.

“Come on, Heatwave. The fire truck is the most important part!” Rather than being dressed in his normal gear, Kade was clad in red striped tights and a green jerkin, befitting his current role as one of Santa’s elves.

“I don’t see why I need to be ‘decorated’ up in all that junk.” Heatwave huffed; arms crossed over his large chest. “It’ll just get tangled if I have to transform.”

“You won’t have to transform. You just have to stay as a truck and roll slowly down Main Street while I throw candy at the kids.” Kade shook the coils of Christmas Lights in his hands threateningly. “So, turn into a truck already so I can get these on!”

At that point, Chief Burns decided he might as well intercede. Tugging at and adjusting the fake beard on his chin, he stepped between fireman and fire truck. “Heatwave, this is one of the town’s favorite civic events. It would really disappoint a lot of children not to have Santa riding a decorated fire truck. Kade will do his best to keep the lights out of your seams, just in case you do have to transform.” He gave his son a pointed look.

With a few more token grumbles, Heatwave conceded and changed to vehicle mode so that Kade could drape lights across his roof and up around his ladder.

The other bots were already prepared to go. Boulder had a big wreath filling his shovel and lights wrapping around his cabin, while Chase had big, red ‘nose’ on his grill and car antlers poking up from his doors. (Jazz had found the ‘costume’ hilarious and insisted on getting a set for himself as well.) Blades, of course, would be walking in the parade in bot mode, so he was wearing an appropriately scaled Santa hat on his helm and a long necklace of lights dangling down over his chassis.

Like Kade, the Burns kids were all dressed as elves, while Charlie got the all-important role of Santa. (A costume that required the help of a pillow to fill it out properly.) Now that Heatwave was cooperating, the only other question was what to do with their guests.

Jazz and Prowl had expressed a desire to view the parade, which created a few logistical problems. While Jazz’s alt mode was generic enough to go unnoticed, Prowl’s certainly was not.

“You could join the parade, if you wanted.” Charlie offered, “I’m sure Dani wouldn’t mind driving you, since she won’t be in Blades.”

“No!” Prowl immediately denied sharply, both hands going to cover his chest. After a moment, he managed to relax slightly, “Apologies. But no. I will not allow a human in my interior. Not right now.”

“That’s fine,” Charlie immediately reassured him. “You don’t have to. But I’m afraid your alt mode isn’t very inconspicuous. The townspeople will definitely notice a mainland police car sitting around, and will start asking questions.”

“Would it be alright if he jus’ didn’t have the Enforcer decals n’ all?” Jazz questioned.

“Can you change your paintjob that easily?” As far as Charlie knew, Cybertronians stuck with the paint scheme of whatever vehicle they had scanned, but he was working from a pretty small sample size. 

“I can.” Prowl’s paintjob seemed to shift and darken, decals disappearing and white paint being replaced with black, and when he transformed, he was now an ink-black muscle car with no hint of Police markings. Even his lightbar had vanished.

“Can you do that?” Kade asked, looking at Heatwave consideringly.

“No. Because I’m a fire truck, not an Enforcer. I don’t exactly need to be able to go undercover.” Heatwave didn’t know just what his partner was thinking, but wanted to shoot down the idea before it could get started.

Once Heatwave was appropriately decorated for the parade, the group was able to load up and head out. Kade, Graham, and Dani (driving Chase) each had a large sack of candy to toss out the windows to waiting kids, while Blades had been given a couple leather straps with bells to jingle as he waved to the crowds.

Jazz and Prowl peeled off from the group as they entered town, windows tinted dark to keep the curious from looking too closely at their empty interiors as they searched for a convenient side-street from which to watch the parade.

The rescue bots; meanwhile, made it to the staging area for the parade and got themselves organized. Leading the parade was, of course, Mayor Luskey and his wife in a white convertible, both dressed seasonally to show off to their constituents. Directly behind was Heatwave, dressed to the nines with a wreath on his grill and flashing snowflakes dangling from his ladder. Chief Burns was perched on his footboard in his Santa gear, waving to the crowds who filled the sidewalks. Behind them were the other Rescue Bots, with Blades having a difficult time maintaining sufficiently robot-like movements through his excitement. Trailing behind them were a variety of floats and vehicles representing different shops and companies across the island, all there to spread Holiday Cheer.

And tucked on a side street, no one noticed a pair of cars, one white and one black, parked so closely that mirrors overlapped and fenders touched. Their view wasn’t the best, but it was more than enough to be surrounded by such infectious joy, almost enough to forget about the war and the sorrows of the last millennia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I miss my town's Christmas Parade?


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas morning came with all the usual excitement of the holiday; opening presents under the tree, cookies and milk, and a housefire that required a full team response. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the family was able to go stay with relatives until repairs could be made.

As the team drove back to the firehouse, Chief Burns couldn’t help but notice that Chase was being abnormally quiet.

“Everything alright, Chase?”

“Oh, yes, sir. I am fine.” Chase immediately reassured him. “Although, actually. You are an older brother, so perhaps you can assist me. I have been researching, but have been unable to find any guides on how to be an elder sibling.”

“There isn’t an instruction manual for being an older brother.” Charlie said with a laugh. “It’s just the sort of thing you have to figure out for yourself.”

It was clear that was not the answer Chase wanted. “Surely there are a set of rules to follow?”

“If only there was, partner.” Charlie shook his head. “You’ve seen me and Woodrow. Siblings will get on your nerves sometimes. You might fight, get angry, yell at each other. But in the end, you’ll always love each other. The important thing is to remember that.”

“That is. Very similar to what the others told me when I asked them. I did not find their answers very illuminating.”

_Kade: “When you’re the oldest, you gotta remember that your little sibs look up to you. You’re their hero. So you gotta set a good example for them. They’ll be annoying and they’ll piss ya off, but when all is said and done, you gotta protect them. Cause you’re their big bro.”_

_Dani: “Brothers are annoying, it’s just a fact. When you’re the only girl, they’re always in your stuff. Stealing your clothes, reading your diary, it’s just what they do. But then you turn around and they do something so nice they make you forget about all that. So you forgive them, because they’re your brothers.”_

_Graham: “Oh, uh, I dunno. I guess being a big brother is about helping your younger brother. I was always helping Cody out with his homework, or his science projects. Not doing it for him, just giving him advice. Showing him how to figure things out himself. Because when you’re older, you’ve done it first.”_

Charlie thought he had a pretty good idea what his kids had said. “Trust me, Chase. You’ll figure it out. And, for what it’s worth, I think you’ll be a wonderful big brother.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Dinnertime found everyone down in the bunker, where the bots could gather with their human family for Christmas Dinner. Not that Cybertronians ate, per say, but they could sip on their energon cubes and be there, and that was the important part.

The elevator touched down at the bunker level and Chief Burns stepped out with the roast turkey on a platter in his hands, cooked to perfection and smelling amazing. Everyone made approving sounds as he set it in the center of the table, completing the tableau of food. Kade’s sneaking hand was slapped away, until everyone was seated and could be served.

Everyone was digging in with gusto, complementing the incredible food, when Charlie heard a groan and sharp intake of vents from the bot end of the table. Prowl had a hand pressed to his chest and was hunched over, with both Jazz and Chase looking at him in concern.

“Prowl, are you alright?” Charlie asked, brow furrowed.

“Y-yes.” Prowl took a steadying vent and shook his head. “I apologize, but I believe there is about to one more guest for dinner.”

Blades spat out his energon all over Heatwave, “The sparkling is coming?!”

“You’re having the baby?” Cody threw down his silverware with a clatter. “Like, right now?”

“Not _right now_.” Prowl slowly got to his pedes with the assistance of his creation and his Conjunx. “But very soon. Yes.”

“Is there anything we can do for you?” Charlie pushed his plate away and stood. Dinner could wait. “Can we get you anything?”

“I’m gonna take him to th’ room to lay down.” Jazz supported Prowl as they headed to the room they had claimed. “Some towels would be a help, and some warm solvent ta clean the bit up. A few soft blankets’d be good too.”

“Alright, you heard him.” Charlie turned back to the table and clapped his hands. “We’ll have to put dinner on hold for a minute.”

Kade grumbled and grabbed a turkey leg to gnaw on as everyone split up to gather the needed supplies. Some clean towels and a soft fleece blanket, given a tumble through the dryer to warm them up for the newborn. Some natural citrus solvent was provided by the cabinet of cleaning supplies under the sink (sure, it would make the baby smell like oranges, but there were worse things for a baby to smell like). After pouring the solvent into an appropriately mech sized bowl, Charlie went over and knocked on the door to Prowl and Jazz’s room.

The door slid open to allow him in, revealing the three mecha to be on the berth. Prowl was kneeling, hands on Jazz’s shoulders with his face pressed against his Conjunx’s chest. Every so often, a ripple of tensing plating and cables ran from his pedes up to the tips of his wings with a rattle.

“Thank you, sir. I can take that.” Chase was seated on the berth behind his carrier, one hand rubbing at the laboring mech’s wing hinges.

“Sorry it took a little while, I wanted to warm everything up.” Charlie handed the clothes and solvent to Chase. “I don’t know about sparklings, but human babies are sensitive to cold.”

“The sparklin’ will appreciate it, I’m sure.” Jazz reassured him, petting Prowl’s helm gently as the mech let out a long, shuddering groan.

“Is he okay?” Charlie knew it was a silly question to ask someone in labor, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“I am fine.” Prowl’s voice was slightly muffled, since he didn’t bother to lift his face off Jazz’s chest. “Merely. Uncomfortable.”

Even as he spoke, there was a loud clicking as his chest plating folded open and a bright light shone out. Jazz quickly grabbed one of the towels and laid it under Prowl just as clear, viscous liquid spilled out of his chest, soaking the cloth and making the mech’s wings shiver.

“Come on, Prowler. Almost there. The bit’s almost out.” Jazz murmured words of encouragement as the police car’s back arched, wringing a sharp cry from his vocalizer before the contraction subsided and he sagged against his Conjunx’s frame.

Charlie should leave, but he felt frozen in place. The human barely dared breath, lest he distract the three mecha on the berth. Jazz and Chase’s entire focus was on Prowl as his frame flexed again, a silver shape now visible in his chest cavity.

Jazz reached a hand into Prowl’s open chest, gently placing his fingers over their sparkling. “I can feel ‘em, yer so close. Jus’ a lil’ more. Give me just a lil’ more, babe.”

One more harsh contraction of Prowl’s frame, and the silver, ovoid shape finally slid out of his chest and into Jazz’s waiting hands. With a great woosh of air from his vents, Prowl collapsed to one side until he was half-reclined against the large cushion placed helpfully behind him. He looked utterly exhausted, chestplating still open and optics dim, but he managed to raise a hand towards the form cradled in Jazz’s arms.

“Here ya go, Prowler.” Jazz set their offspring gently in Prowl’s lap, where the newborn unfurled with a tiny transformation sound into a little robot infant.

Chase helpfully dipped the rags into the solvent and leaned in to start cleaning the birthing fluid from carrier and child. The sparkling beeped and chirped at the novel sensation, and Charlie took the opportunity to show himself out. He’d tell everyone the good news, and let the family come out in their own time to introduce their newest member.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- apologies for the delay, and the short chap. I hurt my shoulder and have been having a hard time typing. 
> 
> Time for Sparkling Shenanigans!

Christmas dinner was finished and everyone was casually hanging out, watching Kade demolish his third helping of pie, when the door to the far room opened and Jazz emerged. All conversation immediately stopped as the mech approached with light, silent footsteps, a blanketed bundle cradled carefully in the crook of his arm.

“Hey, everybody.” Jazz spoke softly as well, carefully kneeling down and angling his arms so that everyone, including the humans, could see the peaceful, sleeping face of the sparkling. “Jus’ wanted to introduce the lil’ bit. This is Strongarm.”

“She’s adorable!” Dani gasped, trying very hard to hold in her squee as Strongarm yawned and shifted in the blanket.

“She?” Kade looked at his sister with a raised eyebrow.

“What? She’s cute.” Dani crossed her arms defensively. “And I just thought it would be nice to have more girls around here.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works.” Graham put in tentatively.

Jazz chuckled, stalling any further argument between the Burns siblings. “S’alright. ‘She’ is fine. Strongarm is Chase’s new lil’ sister then.”

“She’s so tiny.” Boulder said in wonder, leaning down to get a little closer. “I’ve never seen a sparkling up close; I didn’t realize they were so _small_.”

“You never saw any babies back on Cybertron?” Cody asked curiously.

“Sparklings weren’t common, even before the war.” Heatwave grumbled. “The Senate thought they took too much time and effort to raise, said they’d distract mechanisms from their work.”

“Well, the Senate ain’t around no more.” Jazz looked down at his daughter fondly. “Me n’ Prowl can love Strongarm as much as she wants, and she can choose whatever career she wants when she’s an adult. The way it should be.”

“Hear, hear.” Charlie concurred.

Strongarm scrunched her face and let out an irritated chirp, turning her face into her sire’s chest. “Welp, I should get this lil’ lady back to her carrier. Before he wakes up an’ freaks.” Jazz rose back to his pedes and gave the sparkling’s face a fond stroke. “You all can see more of her tomorrow, I promise.”

Reluctantly, the others let him go. The annual ritual of watching bad Christmas movies all night didn’t seem quite as exciting as usual, not after all the excitement over the arrival of a new sparkling.

The next morning, as promised, Strongarm was back out in the common space of the bunker, this time cradled in the arms of her carrier. Prowl was wrapped in a blanket and had been settled on one end of the couch by Jazz, who was seated nearby protectively. Strongarm was awake now, doing her best to explore with her stubby, uncoordinated little limbs, tugging and fussing with the blanket under the tired, but watchful optics of her carrier.

“She’s very active,” Charlie commented, smiling as he watched Strongarm bat at one of Prowl’s hands moving around under the blanket. “Human babies don’t do much except sleep and cry when they’re a day old.”

“Sparklings don’t emerge quite as helpless as human infants.” Prowl wiggled his fingers as Strongarm tried to grasp one of them in her stubby hands. “We don’t need to fit their helms out such a small orifice. It will be a while be she can do much more than this, however.”

Leaving her game aside, Strongarm opened her mouth and let out a noise rather like a dial-up modem. Charlie winced, but Prowl merely gave a soft smile and lifted her to his chest. A small panel slid aside and Strongarm latched onto the tube underneath with great zeal. It was amazing how Cybertronians and Humans were so different in so many ways, and yet so similar.

It took a few days for Prowl to be comfortable letting anyone besides himself or Jazz hold Strongarm. Chase got first honors, of course, and Charlie snapped several photos of the cop car gingerly holding his little sister. Strongarm didn’t seem to mind who was holding her, happily snuggling into the arms of her brother and listening intently to him read aloud a book of Maine law.

(Amused, Charlie had recounted this to Jazz, who just laughed and informed the human that Prowl used to recite Praxian penal codes to Chase when he was a sparkling. Like creator, like creation)

The other Rescue Bots took turns to hold Strongarm as well, even Heatwave. The fire truck might have even smiled as the little sparkling patted at her reflection in his windshield and laughed. Blades, of course, was the most thrilled to play with Strongarm, and was rather reluctant to give her up when she got hungry and needed to go back to her carrier.

“She’s just so cute.” Blades pouted as he passed a squirming Strongarm to Prowl.

“Yes, she is.” Prowl winced as Strongarm latched onto his fuel line with great gusto. “And also very hungry. I shall bring her back out later, once she has fueled and recharged.”

It hadn’t taken long at all for Strongarm to have the entire Rescue Team wrapped around her chubby fingers, including the humans. The sparkling didn’t quite know what to make of the soft, organic things that were barely larger than she was, but she was fascinated by them. Strongarm could be kept occupied for hours just feeling the strange texture of their hair and clothes. Unfortunately for the Burns’, Strongarm was far too young to know her own strength and size. Less than a week old and she was over 200 pounds and much stronger than a human. Charlie had been quite surprised indeed when Strongarm had tugged on the sleeve of his shirt curiously and caused all of the buttons to go flying off.

Jazz laughed and gently tried to free his daughter’s hand from the Chief’s poor shirt. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s alright.” Charlie had certainly had worse done to his clothing by his own children over the years. He carefully pried Strongarm’s little fingers out of the torn fabric and set about looking for the buttons. “It was an old shirt anyway.”

For her part, Strongarm just giggled a musical scale of happy beeps at the display.


End file.
